THE STARLIGHT CREEK ANGLING SOCIETY [SIGNED COPY]

Stone Harbor: Meadowland Press, 1992. LIMITED EDITION. Hardcover. First edition. Limited to 500 copies, signed by the author on the limitation page. Frontis, line drawings. Black cloth with spine titles in silver. Housed in publisher's slipcase. Still In publisher's shrinkwrap, as new copy. Extremely scarce and unopened copy of an esoteric and reverberating classic in the practical and philosophical art of flyfishing. Fine in Fine Slipcase. Item #74478

Middleton was a North American nature writer who hailed from the South, who was an award-winning outdoors columnist who wrote for various publications such as Southern Living and Louisiana Life. He lived but 44 years, dying of a suspected brain aneurism.

"...At the time of his death at age 44 in 1993, Harry Middleton was working three jobs. He was a factory janitor, a grocery store stocker and a garbage man in suburban Birmingham, Alabama. He was also a fly fisherman and one of America’s greatest writers, known for creative nonfiction and as a memoirist. Never heard of him, right? It could be that solitary activities combining athleticism, concentration and contemplativeness result in the deepest consciousness. Perhaps none fit this description better than fly fishing; certainly, no fly fisherman exemplifies the potential better than Harry Middleton. Fly fishing was as needful an element to Harry as oxygen is to the rest of us. All the way through an unusual life, fly fishing was much more to Harry than a hobby. It was a connection to all creatures and life beyond its typical experience. Fly fishing made living deeper to Harry than the activity of a rod and reel, deeper, too, than the best of writing. Planted in the rushing waters of a mountain stream, Harry stood observantly amid universal consciousness. That is, after all, where the trout are. The fish are sought, caught and released much as thoughts that are appreciated instead of consumed, permitted freedom to tantalize another fisherman at another time..."(From "Fishing and Writing Lesson From Harry Middleton", by Michael Driver -- in the public domain). Curiosity Never Killed the Writer -- Curious Cat Project.